'Cardboard' cathedral revealed

REVEALED: Japanese architect, Shigeru Ban, has designed a "temporary" cathedral for Christchurch.

HOPEFUL: Christ Church Cathedral Dean Peter Beck.

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Plans for a 'cardboard cathedral' have been unveiled in Christchurch.

The proposal for a temporary replacement of the Christ Church Cathedral was outlined by world renowned Japanese architect Shigeru Ban this afternoon.

Ban has built temporary homes, schools, shelters and a cathedral for disaster zones across the world, including Rwanda in 1994, Kobe after the 1995 earthquake, Turkey in 1999 and Haiti last year.

The temporary cathedral would be built with locally produced cardboard tubes erected in an A-shape, with shipping containers used as foundations.

Ban said the building would cost $4 million, take three months to build and could seat 700 people. A triangular stain-glass window could be designed by a local artist, he said.

Christ Church Cathedral Dean Peter Beck said he hoped the building could be completed in time for the one-year anniversary of the February 22 quake.

Beck said they are looking for an inner-city site for the cathedral, which could be used by orchestras, other churches and community functions.

The Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Trust, a fund run by Prime Minister John Key's office, has granted $50,000 for a feasibility study into the project. The study will include a business case on how the $4 million would be raised for the project.

Beck said the cardboard cathedral could be relocated and used for other purposes once a new permanent cathedral is constructed in the centre of the city.